2006年VOA标准英语-Murder of Russian Journalist Prompts Widespread

By Anya Ardayeva
Moscow
12 October 2006
 
watch Slain¹ Russian Journalist report

One of Russia's most prominent journalists, Anna Politkovskaya, was buried in a Moscow cemetery² Tuesday after she was shot dead in her apartment building on Saturday. The murder of the investigative journalist, well known for her critical reports of the Kremlin's actions in Chechnya, has provoked widespread reaction in Moscow and abroad. Human rights activists³ in the Russian capital say the murder was politically motivated.

 
The funeral of Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya 
The funeral of Anna Politkovskaya attracted hundreds of people who wanted to pay tribute to the most outspoken⁴ critic of the Kremlin's actions in Chechnya, now the 13th Russian journalist murdered during President Vladimir Putin's administration.

A mother of two, Politkovskaya often traveled to the breakaway republic where she reported on cases of kidnapping, torture and other crimes -- atrocities⁵ she blamed on forces of the Russian military and the Moscow-backed government in Chechnya. 

"I think that if in Russia and in the West people actually knew something about Chechnya, and about situation of civilians⁶ in Chechnya, about their tremendous sufferings, it is to a large extend due to Anna and her very brave, excellent professional work," said Tatiana Lokshina, who heads the Demos human rights group in Moscow.

 
Anna Politkovskyaya
Politkovskaya was murdered in her apartment building in Moscow on the evening of 7 October 2006. The killer⁷ ambushed⁸ her in the elevator, fired four shots from a silenced Makarov pistol and fled. A surveillance camera captured an image of a man leaving the building after the shooting, but no further details of his identity or motives⁹ were released.

Few of those who queued up on Monday to buy a special edition of Novaya Gazeta, the publication Politkovskaya worked for, said they believed the case will be resolved any time soon.

"Of course, the murderer will not be found," said one person, noting that things are not improving. "It's not the first death of this kind, and other people have gone away, too, and events show that it's not getting any better, only worse."

Ever since Politkovskaya's death, people have been sending flowers and letters of condolences to her office in central Moscow.

 
Galina Murzalieva
Her colleague, Galina Murzalieva, said that in a recent radio interview, Politkovskaya said she was investigating a case of alleged¹⁰ kidnapping, torture and murder perpetrated by Chechnya's Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov and his personal army of heavily armed fighters. "She said she had two photographs which show the tortures that Kadyrov's regime perpetrates in Chechnya. The story on this she was supposed to file on the day of her death."

Shortly after the killing¹¹, Prime Minister Kadyrov denied there was any Chechen involvement in the case and expressed regret over the death of the reporter.

Novaya Gazeta says it believes the murder was either an act of revenge by Kadyrov, or an attempt to discredit¹² him. The newspaper announced a reward of more than one million dollars for information that could help find the killer and said it will conduct its own investigation¹³ into the case.

 
Tatiana Lokshina
In the course of her career, Anna Politkovskaya had made many enemies - but she was so prominent that few believed anything would happen to her, including Tatiana Lokshina of Demos. "As a journalist who worked on Chechnya, on this very sensitive topic, she was frequently receiving threats," said Lokshina. "But she was working for such a long time and publishing such powerful stories and taking so many risks, that after a certain point we all started thinking that she is so much of an icon¹⁴ that nothing could ever happen to her, it would be too scandalous. And we were wrong, I am afraid, very tragically¹⁵ wrong."

According to the New-York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Politkovskaya was at least the 43rd journalist killed for her work in Russia since 1993. Most of the murder cases remain unsolved.

Even though Politkovskaya's death provoked a reaction around the world, no one from the Russian government attended her funeral.

1 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

2 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

5 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

8 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

15 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。